Altes Theater was a theatre in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It operated between 1747 and the early 1870s, when it was replaced by the

Stadttheater Düsseldorf Stadttheater Düsseldorf , later Städtische Bühnen Düsseldorf,was a theatre in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Designed by Ernst Giese, it was constructed between 1873 and 1875. History On the site before the construction of t ...

History

The Altes (Old) Theatre was also known as the Grupellotheater. The name Grupellotheater recalls that the building was the former casting house of the Baroque sculptor

Gabriel de Grupello In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...

. He had also cast the Jan Wellem equestrian statue here. The old theatre house was used as a theatre as early as 1747, when Elector Karl Theodor was staying in Düsseldorf. Around 1750 it was in operation as a comedy house. From 1751 onwards, regular theatre performances were given in the house. In 1781, art-loving citizens called on Karl Theodor to improve the Foundry House. A princely commissioner improved the building, new decorations were created at the expense of the Elector. In 1805, the theatre was transformed into a "Bergische Nationalbühne" or "Bergische Deutsches Theater". After Düsseldorf became Prussian, King Frederick William III donated the building, which had previously been state property, to the city of Düsseldorf on 11 April 1818, which henceforth leased it for theatre purposes. The first tenant was the Austrian actor and theatre director

Joseph Derossi Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

. The seven-year-old

Constanze Le Gaye Constanze is a feminine given name related to Constance (given name), Constance. It is borne by: * Constanze Backes, German opera and concert soprano * Constanze Blum (born 1972), German cross-country skier * Constanze Engelbrecht (1950–2000), Ge ...

celebrated her debut here. The young

Albert Lortzing Gustav Albert Lortzing (23 October 1801 – 21 January 1851) was a German composer, librettist, actor and singer. He is considered to be the main representative of the German ''Spieloper'', a form similar to the French ''opéra comique'', which ...

and Rosina Regina Ahles also belonged to Derossi's ensemble. From 1829 onwards, the playwright Karl Immermann was active here and between 1831 and 1836, he cooperated here with Christian Dietrich Grabbe. In 1834, Immermann's ensemble included

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

and

Julius Rietz August Wilhelm Julius Rietz (28 December 1812 – 12 September 1877) was a German composer, conductor, cellist, and teacher. His students included Woldemar Bargiel, Salomon Jadassohn, Arthur O'Leary, and (by far the most celebrated) Sir Arthu ...

as conductors, a rendant, a theatre doctor, ten men as technical staff, 20 actors and 11 actresses, nine singers and three female singers, ten male choristers and seven female choristers. Hugo Weidenhaupt: ''Von der französischen zur preußischen Zeit''. In: Hugo Weidenhaupt (Hrsg.): Düsseldorf. ''Geschichte von den Ursprüngen ins 20. Jahrhundert''. Schwann im Patmos Verlag, Düsseldorf 1988, ISBN 3-491-34222-8, Band 2, p. 401 The government building consultants Vagedes and Götz submitted plans to build a new theatre building. The plans were rejected and it was decided to rebuild the Old Theatre. In 1831, the corresponding work was carried out on the old casting house. The construction costs amounted to 20,000 Taler. Finally, in 1832, a classicist portico with a tympanum on four Ionic columns was placed in front of the main façade according to a design by Anton Schnitzler, a student of Vagedes. Today, the entrance to the Council Hall of the City of Düsseldorf is located in this area. The playhouse on the market square was finally replaced by a new municipal theatre, the

, completed in 1875.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Altes Theater (Dusseldorf) Theatres in Düsseldorf